Hello,

I am very new to painting, and this is my first project. I wanted to fix up some small patches with a rattle can and quickly escalated this small repair into a full blown paint job. With this on a whim decision came poor planning. I will explain how I got where I am now.

Me and friend washed the vehicle and began sanding it down with a DA with 100 grit, it was sanded down as far as the original primer in most parts. Some parts we just scuffed up the paint. We also used a little filler on some door dings and other small dents. We then went over it all again with 400 grit and got it real smooth.

Here is where the trouble starts. I sent my buddy out to get some primer. At first we were going to rattle can the primer and sand it smooth but decided against it. He went to napa and asked for a "high build" primer. They gave us "nason SelectPrime 2k 491-55 chrome free etch primer" along with the activator. Today we sprayed 2 coats of this (almost 2 quarts in total). One coat at about 11am, another around 5pm.

It's only now that I'm sitting on the couch unwinding, I start to realize that etch primer isn't what we were supposed to use.

Am I going to have to strip off all of this primer since it has been applied over old paint, primer and filler?

Can I sand this primer at all? I tried sanding some of the first coat around 4pm and it didn't sand very nicely.

Can this primer be left for a while? It's going to be more than 24 hours before can put any more paint on.

Finally, can my base coat be put on over this primer? This is what I wanted to do but now that I read the tech sheet (after it's been applied, I'm so smart hahaha) I feel like I cant.


I'm sorry if these sound stupid but I'm very new and I've made some very spontaneous decisions and I deserve any harsh criticism.

Thanks!


Here is a pic of how it sits now, the primer actually went on quite well.

At this point I would simply scuff sand what you have, blow it off and tack rag it then apply a build primer. I would not recommend painting directly over what you currently have as it's only purpose is for corrosion protection and can break down under the finish if another primer is not used above it.

Kevin Campbell wrote:At this point I would simply scuff sand what you have, blow it off and tack rag it then apply a build primer. I would not recommend painting directly over what you currently have as it's only purpose is for corrosion protection and can break down under the finish if another primer is not used above it.

Thanks for your reply, and I am very happy to see that I may be able to keep the primer that's been applied. Some others have said the same.

What do you mean by tack rag? Sorry I'm not well versed in the autobody lingo.

Also, do you (or anybody else) have any recommendations on a build primer to use? Nason products seem to be the most readily available in my area.

I'm with Kevin on this, the etch prime is going to stay soft for a few days, its really designed to be recoated with primer before the recoat time has expired, the time when its soft. you use a tack rag before you start your final top coats. its a sticky cloth that picks up dust and lint particles from the body surface. there cheep buy a hand full when you buy them.
Jay D.

Hoping to pick up some build primer today. I want to go with Nasan SelectPrime 421-17 or 421-19 2K Urethane Primer if I can find it now. Now that I've learned my lesson I've read over the TDS and this seems to be a good fit.

My top coat is going to be GM WA387E/57 forest green metallic. I assume the gray primer would be a better choice than the buff.